“The discourse of truth is quite simply impossible. It eludes itself. Everything eludes itself, everything scoffs at its own truth, seduction renders everything elusive. The fury to unveil the truth, to get at the naked truth, the one which haunts all discourses of interpretation, the obscene rage to uncover the secret, is proportionate to the impossibility of ever achieving this. GIMME AN R!!!”

ABOVE: Reginald Mantle demonstrates his steam-powered cheerbots at a high school pep rally. Mantle would be one of the early victims of the steampunk robot uprising, which to the surprise of contemporary experts was not a reaction to perceived human inefficiencies but rather a consequence of the A.I.s’ natural distaste towards crude sexual remarks and creepy smirks.